Constructional material



Patented Aug. 25, 1931 UNITED STATES" PATENT" BLJ T- ALBERT C. FISCHER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHILIP CAREY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A' CORPORATION OF OHIO CONSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL No Drawing.

Certain of the subjectmatter contained in this application has been withdrawn from my co-pending application Serial Number 475,527, filed June 6, 1921. This subject matter refers to that particular part of my above mentioned co-pending application, in which constructional material and particularly expansion joint material is formed in sheets with considerably longer fibers than is usually provided in soft felt roofing sheets and felts as heretofore mentioned, that is to say, instead of the fibers being very small and short, said fibers, in some instances, are two or three inches long or longer. Flax, hem sisal and other vegetable fibers are preferab y employed and other such fibers having length and flexibility which function differently than stiff or granular fibrous material.

The vegetable fibres, as stated, are preferably in lengths, when introduced, of two or three inches, but other fibres of lesser length may beintrodueed, as it would be diflicult to separate the shorter fibres from the longer fibres as secured in the market, the purpose primarily being to extend the\binding medium thru a mass of material for the purpose of binding said binding material together. In an expansion joint the purpose of this is obvious for two reasons, first to increase the tensile strength of the expansion joint; second, bituminous materials when re-- duced to a temperature below freezing are exceedingly brittle and. fracture readily. This relates to all forms of bituminous materials which are not plastic at freezing temperature. Other ultimate fibres, such as, roofing felt fibres, shoddy, sawdust, ground wood flour, do not eliminate this difliculty.

Expansion joint is usually made as a preformed strip, usually about five feet long and ranging from to of an inch in thickness. The asphalt used is usually blown bituminous matter because it must offer certain ductile qualities in order to compensate for expansion and contraction, and consequently a hard brittle material, such as, untreated asphalt will not meet the requirements. Blown asphalt has proved so far to be the most satisfactory binding material, 50 but unless it is reinforced it is not only subficult to separate the shorter fibers from the Application filed May 5, 1926. Serial No. 106,986.

j ect to'elongation when installed between concrete sections, but it will also ooze out of the joint in warm weather and often run over the surface of the highway. Felted material used in combination with the blown bitumi- 5 nous material in making up the joint is intended to overcome this undesirable effect. It does to a certain extent but it is not a complete success. Furthermore, it is open to obj ection because in handling the oint in warm I 0 weather the joint is very apt to be flabby, so that it cannot be installed in a straight line and will not properly perform when installed.

I have discovered and have found in actual practice that by very careful application of certain reinforcing means I can produce a strip of joint which will stand up under the most trying conditions and produce unusually satisfactory results. This applies not only to'the results realized from the performance of the joint when installed but also applies to handling the joint for shipment, as well as the handling it will receive on the job, preparatory to installing, and the handling that it will be subjected to in the act of installing.

The improvements which I have developed have to do primarily withthe provision of a reinforcing medium as well as the application of same, and the preparation of the joint in general. For instance, I have discovered that long, flexible, vegetable fiber, when properly mixed and when the joint is prepared properly, will offer an unusually effective reinforcing medium. I have selected elongated vegetable fibers from such classes as, flax, hemp, sisal, and other equivalent fibers, because of their strength and their considerable length. The fibers, as stated, may be one inch to two inches or three inches in length, and may by reason ofbreakage of the mixture result in smaller lengths. Likewise smaller lengths may be introduced as it would be diflonger fibers secured in the market, but it is higgly desirable that the long fibers be employe I have selected fibers of this type because of their long, tough and resilient qualities, 109

the same offering means whereby extended reinforcing effects may be applied to binding material as compared to the short, ultimate fibers of a felted mass made up of ultimate fibers, such as, cotton, rag fibers and linters which have no extended binding strength.

Another advantage of this vegetable fiber in elongated dimensions is the fact that it is flexible and will not become brittle and dry, as is the case with excelsior and other stiff fibrous material, and will more intimately bind the bituminous substance and thus prevent the same from oozing in warm weather. It will prevent partial elongation of the strip when pressure is imposed upon the same, and otherwise effects a more efficient reinforcing result than can possibly be obtained by the felt described, and waterproofing binders made up with exceedingly short fibers have little binding valve.

A joint that will simply ooze out of the crack so as to make room for the expansion of the concrete sections is not functioning properly, because when the sections contract there is no way for the material of the joint to fill up the space in the joint so as to exclude dirt and water from the joint. Then again, after contraction when the sections expand again all of the compensating value of the joint has been destroyed by the first expansion. This is the result of elongation and can be compared favorably with a piece of rubber which has been subjected to a situation where all ofits elasticity has been destroyed. i

The above thoroughly explains the principal requirements expected of an expansion joint, and it can be readily appreciated the improvement that my invention will lend to a material of this nature. It should be kept in mind that it is entirely different from a material that is applied to a street, and which is to withstand traiiic, or any other material which will become hardened immediately or soon after being prepared. Expansion joint should never become hard, primarily for the reason that in cold weather, which is the time that it would become hard if ever, it would offer a ridge of obstruction across the road surface which would be detrimental to traffic. Joint material is so pliable and elastic that it may be formed to extend around curbs without destroying its compensating value, and this is practically impossible with a material which has a felted mass incorporated therewith.

Vegetable fiber as described has a dull surface and is, therefore, resistant to adhesive materials, more so than hair, which is glossy in nature, or straw, which is glossy and slippery, and other like materials having a glossy, shiny surface. While vegetable fiber is not as elastic it is highly resilient thru its breadth, and most elongated vegetable fibers,

such as described, are tubular in nature, and because of their construction resist penetration by high melting point asphalts. This enables them to absorb some of the oil in the asphalt and aids in adding to the toughness in such fibers, as described. The binding strength is thus greatly increased and the adhesive power is also increased by reason of the better afiinity of the bituminous material for a fiber of the nature described.

It can be readily understood that fibers of length dispersed thru a tough, ductile mass will resist the deflection of the mass under warm temperatures, and the strength of the fiber being considerable will reduce the tendency to brittleness upon shock in cooler tem peratures.

\Vhere long fiber of this kind is employed a less quantity of fibers would have to be used than where a large quantity of finely divided fibrous material is utilized. There is this additional advantage over a homogeneous mixture of finely divided fibrous material or fibrous material of very short length. These facts are particularly true in bituminous mixtures where it is necessary to have a preponderance of a-ductile asphalt or a waterproof-- ing material ductile in nature or elastic in nature desirable for expansion joint purposes.

Another feature of importance is that with the other extreme of temperature, in the heat of the summer, sawdust, wood flour and the ingredients above named, do not materially retard the flow of the asphalt under pressure and consequently the asphalt oozes from the crevice, and this oozed portion upon a sudden temperature change, cools and makes an objectionable ridge lying transverse to the line of travel. By introducing such long fibrous matter as flax, hemp, sisal and other vegetable fibres, preferably with a great many of the fibres in lengths as much as two or three inches long, such lengths at least being in preponderance, I am enabled to realize an efficient reinforcing medium. Altho in the mixing or coating process these fibres may be somewhat reduced in length they will not be reduced sufficiently to interfere with their extended binding qualities by reason of lying in a considerable area of the mass of binder as distinguished from the other short fibres described. Flax, hemp, sisal, and in fact any vegetable fiber having length as distinguished from sawdust or granular matter or short cotton fibers, is extremely desirable as a flow retarder, and a reinforcing and binding medium for the bituminous substance, because such long, strong fibers when mixed with the bituminous material extend over a considerable area thru the bituminous material and are anchored most firmly therein.

I claim:

1. A preformed expansion joint comprising a predominating mass of ductile bituminous material and vegetable fiber incorpointed therein, said vegetable fiber being of suflicient length to reenforce the ductile material for preventing brittleness or oozing in extreme temperatures.

2. A preformed compressible and elastic constructional material comprising a mixture of compressible bituminous binder having homogeneously incorporated therein relativel long, vegetable fibers, the individual fi ers being separated by the bituminous material.

3. A preformed compressible and elastic constructional material consisting of a compressible, bituminous binder having homogeneously incorporated therein strong vegetable fibers of a length sufiicient to reenforce the binderto prevent brittleness and oozing in extreme temperatures.

4. A preformed expansion joint comprising a preponderance of waterproofed ductile material as a binding medium, having a comparatively small volumeof vegetable fibers of long linear dimension incorporated therein, said fibers forming pockets in the waterproofed ductile mass which resiliently com press and again expand upon pressure transmitted to the outer walls of the mass.

5. Preformed compressible and elastic constructional material which includes vegetable fibers from two to three inches in length mixed in a preponderance of compressible binder to give an elastic character to the mass.

6. Preformed strips of compressible and elastic constructional material comprising plastic waterproofing material and relatively long textile fibres, said textile fibres reenforcing the plastic material to prevent brittleness or oozing in extreme temperature.

7. A preformed expansion joint comprising a predominance of ductile, compressible,

waterproofed binder and relatively long hemp fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

8. A preformed expansion joint comprising a predominance of ductile, compressible, waterproofed binder and relatively long flax fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

9. A preformed expansion joint compris- 11. Preformed strips of compressible and elastic constructional material comprising a predominance of ductile, compressible, waterproofing binder and relatively long flax fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

12. Preformed strips of compressible and elastic constructional material comprising a predominance of ductile, compressible, Waterproofing binder and relatively long sisal fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

April 20, 1926.

ALBERT C. FISCHER.

ing a predominance of ductile, compressible,

waterproofed binder and relatively long sisal fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

10. Preformed strips of compressible and elastic constructional material comprising a predominance of ductile, waterproofing binder and relatively long hemp fibres, said fibres being incorporated to reenforce the mass and give same an elastic character.

compressible, 

